"NEW" LATINA/O MIGRATION: LATINA/OS IN SUBURBS

BY STUDENT

When looking into today’s political climate, a lot of turmoil is happening with the illegal immigration coming to the US. President Obama deported thousands of immigrants during his 8 year term and elected President Trump has talked about building border walls, compiling names and returning jobs to the white Americans that were  taken by  the illegal immigrants.  But, as we have seen, the wall does not stop immigrants, mainly because many of us flew into the country or used our Visa to pass the border¹, but also, many of the jobs immigrants have are not going to be taken by the white population. “Twenty-five years ago, a worker made 12,13,14 cents for [picking] a bin of oranges. Today that same bin pays 15 or 16 cents – in spite of 250 percent inflation”². Immigrants will keep coming into the US and will continue to be hire for those jobs white people are not willing to take, and as a fellow immigrant from Danbury said “We're here, we're staying, no matter what you're saying!”³. So what now? now that we are here illegally, do we have the right to ask for a better living, grants or prime loans? a better wage? Equal access to higher education?  Or even health benefits?

            For me, it seems  that we should all have the same access to a decent home, education, health and wage, and it would benefit everyone. The Center for American Progress reports that with the 2.1 million eligible dreamers, if given legal status, there would be a gain of  $329 billion into the US economy⁴. If more people have access to health insurance and pay,  the price will drop for everyone. But also, if immigrants are deported, specially homeowners, the economy in many towns and cities will decline, a city is not a city without its people. It is economically smart for everyone to not abuse immigrants, or anyone, to include them into the system and make sure we all play a role in society.

            The idea of immigrants helping the economy can be persuasive, but, are we all just money in the eyes of our government and our society? Should we just elect economists to run the country without any leadership or sensitivity to our own humanity? It would not be moral nor helpful for those who cannot economically contribute to this country because of age or disability. It is our responsibility to help those in need, no matter who they are. But one of the biggest arguments is that the North American territory has been taken from the hands of the natives in colonial times and from Mexico in the Mexican American War, it was violence over rights. When focusing on the south west, where Mexico lost its land, after the war Mexican home owners were forced to validate their land ownership under the new government. Many Mexicans lost their lands when they were denied ownership over insufficient documentation, others were harassed or killed to gain the land, or tricked by lawyers who made them sign documents under false explanations. The US gave grants and loans to white citizens and denied it to Mexicans, later, Mexicans were offered subprime home loans which had higher interest and became impossible to payoff, more immigrants lost their home and assets.⁵

If we look into Franklin Roosevelt, 1944 State of the Union Address and the Oregon Law review 82(2003):433, 442, we can see that anyone regardless of station, race, or creed has the right to a decent home, not just a “shelter”, but an adequate, decent and affordable housing, a place for growth, education and health. These rights should be given not just because it is economically good, or because some were here before others and there has been much abuse towards non white, but because it is a basic universal right.

SOURCES:

1.     Murray, Sara. "Many in U.S. Illegally Overstayed Their Visas." The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, 2013. Web. 02 Dec. 2016.

2.     Marc Cooper, “Sour Grapes: California Farm Workers’ Endless Struggle 40 Years Later,” Weekly, August 11, 2003, http://www.laweekly.com/2005-08-11/news/sourgrapes (last visited 12, 2009) (quoting economist Rick Mines).  

3.     Bellettieri, Diana. 2006. "Danbury Rally Protests Against Illegal Workers." The Journal News, Jan 08. http://search.proquest.com/docview/442819530?accountid=14166.

4.     Mahwish Khan on October 2, 2012, and Mahwish Khan. "New Report Reveals the Economic Benefits of Passing the DREAM Act - America's Voice." America's Voice. 2012. Accessed December 02, 2016. http://americasvoice.org/blog/new-report-reveals-the-economic-benefits-of-passing-the-dream-act/.

5.     Bender, Steven. Tierra Y Libertad: Land, Liberty, and Latino Housing. New York, NY: New York University Press, 2010. Pg. 1-56

"NEW" LATINA/O MIGRATION: LATINA/OS IN SUBURBS

BY STUDENT

New York City is one of many cities known for having a fast growing population of Latinos/Hispanics throughout history. Mike Davis stated how New York City has undergone “Latinization”, Davis talks about the 2000 Census which is the start of this Latino growth in the population. In the 2000 Census there was 35,305,818 who identified themselves as either Latino/Hispanic; meanwhile, in the 2010 Census there were 50,477,594. In my blog post I will be focusing on the New York City population and their growth within the past 20 years. According to the 2010 Census survey there is 8,175,133 Latinos/Hispanics living in New York City. The Latino/Hispanic population in New York City has been facing many difficulties recently due to white’s moving back into the city, leading to gentrification. Gentrification is when people of high income move into low income neighborhoods that they then reform till low incoming people can no longer afford to live there. It has been noticed that Latino’s are now moving out of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens, and are moving into different parts of New York City such as Staten Island and the Bronx, more specifically Fordham and Hunts Point. In my blog post I will discuss how the Hispanic/Latino population become a majority in the Bronx.

The Latino/Hispanic population in the Bronx was 53.53%, which is more than half of the total population in the 2010 Census. The Bronx population has proven to continue to grow throughout the years(has proven to have significant growth) Gentrification can be one of the many reasons as to why the population keeps growing drastically. Based on the census data from 2009-2013, there was a total of 31,506 people who moved from one of the other four boroughs into the Bronx. There were also Bronx residents that left the county through this time period, there was a total of 16,904 people who left and moved to one of the other four boroughs. Fordham are one of the many places that has yet to be gentrified, there have been reports of more Latinos moving into this neighborhood. I have noticed a lot of Latino/Hispanic families move into my neighborhood. Although my family has not been directly affected by this “movement” we are being affected indirectly. Growing up in Fordham I have observed that it is a predominately Hispanic/Latino neighborhood. According to the 2010 Census the Hispanic/Latino population in Fordham was 70.2%. The other 29.8% of the population was majority Black/African Americans which were 26.0%, 1.5% were whites, and the other 2.3% of the population was either Asian or other (Murphy, 2016).

Hunts Points is a neighborhood found in the South Bronx. There are currently 20,305 residents living there according to the 2010 Census data. Hispanics/Latinos make up 74.6% of the population followed by 22.2% of Blacks/African Americans, the remaining 3.2% were either Asians or other. Mario Chasi is one of many small business owners that were gentrified out of Willets Points, Queens. The City Council decided to remove these small business and release them by expensive housing. According to sources this neighborhood had about 225 Latino owned business alongside about 1,700 Latino workers (Bagil, 2016). Hunts Point has become one of the many new homes for these small business. Based on the observations and research I have come to the conclusion that it will very hard for the Bronx to undergo the process of gentrification because the Latino/Hispanic make up most of the population.

U.S. Census Bureau. (2012). Population of Bronx County, New York: Census 2010 and 2000 Interactive Map, Demographics, Statistics, Graphs, Quick Facts, Retrieved from http://censusviewer.com/county/NY/Bronx

U.S. Census Bureau. (2010). Geographic Data Source; Neighborhood Tabulation Data, Retrieved from http://maps.nyc.gov/census/#

Bagli, C.V., (October 6, 2016). Auto Shop Owners Forced Out of Willets Point Struggle to Rebuild in the Bronx. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/07/nyregion/auto-shop-owners-forced-out-of-willets-point-struggle-to-rebuild-in-the-bronx.html?_r=1

Murphy, J., (March 25, 2016). UrbaNerd: Are Other Boroughs’ Gentrification Refugees Fueling Bronx Growth. City Limits, Retrieved from http://citylimits.org/2016/03/25/urbanerd-are-other-boroughs-gentrification-refugees-fueling-bronx-growth/

Davis, M. (2000). Magical Urbanism: Spicing the City. Verso, 2000.

"NEW" LATINA/O MIGRATION: LATINA/OS IN SUBURBS

BY STUDENT

In 6^th grade I moved from Westchester, NY to Hampton Bays, NY where I experienced a dramatic change in environment. While living in Long Island, I was exposed to a Latino/Latina movement like no other. You may read a book, newspaper article or hear a story about how many Latino/a individuals migrated to the U.S, but you will NEVER understand unless you lived in an area where the migration took place. I was fortunate enough to live in an area where thousands and thousands of Latino/a individuals migrated. Hampton Bays is a small town in Suffolk County, which is an affordable place in the Hamptons. This small location is surrounded by some of the richest towns in the country, like Southampton, East Hampton etc. This unique location attracted the Latino population because it was a place where they could reside and start restaurants, work blue-collar jobs for high pay and live a great lifestyle.

As this migration took into effect the Hampton Bays area and surrounding towns had reacted in many ways to the movement. Some of the key topics I would like to discuss are education, small businesses, competition and discrimination. First off, as the Latino/a population began to triple in Hampton Bays, the environment had adapted pretty quickly. Each day you would see more and more family style restaurants being started, frequent landscaping companies coming out of the woodwork. During class discussion, we often talked about how the education system for Latino/a’s were not great, often due to unqualified professors and lack of funding. In Hampton Bays they gave many individuals whom lived near the border (mostly white) the opportunity to chose to attend Westhampton Beach High School or Hampton Bays. I had made the decision to go to WHB because it was ranked one of the best public high schools in the state. Hampton Bays High School is about 70% Latino/a, which is majority. Do you believe this option to attend Westhampton indirectly led to segregation among high schools?

I want to discuss how the town and environment has adapted since the Latino/a migration to Hampton Bays specifically. The purpose of this blog post is to empower you with real life experiences and encounters of the Latino/a migration and the perceived effect on the community. Many of the local businesses that were started by the Latino/a experienced many struggles throughout. In East Quogue(next to Hampton Bays), there was a Latino named Mr. Alfaro who was an owner of a auto repair shop. The man had to petition to the Zoning Board of Appeals to allow him to continue operations. “The ZBA rejected that petition, ruling that such a business did not conform to the area’s village business zoning, although other auto shops, such as Mr. Mees’s, are located nearby”.  Mr. Alfaro claimed that the ZBA ruled against him because he is Latino. Do you believe race contributed to the ZBA’s decision to reject Mr. Alfaro’s petition?

Bossetta, Brian. "Hampton Bays Man Can Proceed with $25 Million Lawsuit - East Quogue." - 27east. The Southampton Press, 10 Dec. 2008. Web. 15 Nov. 2016.

  

LATINA/OS TAKE CENTER STAGE: CENSUS 2000

BY C.M


Between 2010 and 2015 Florida’s population has grown by 1.46 million people. The Latinos represents 51% of this growth. Within those five years Florida's Latino population grew 18% overall. The Latino population grew over six times faster than the non-Latino whites and over twice as fast as the Blacks in Florida. The city Miami in Florida has been affected the most by the growth of the Latino population. Over one third of this population growth (more than 250,000 people) occurred in Miami. However Miami is not the only city in Florida seeing a growth in Latino population. Cities all over Florida are seeing this growth and the Latino population is not only affecting Florida Socially. They are now affecting Florida politically as well.


The Latino population makes up approximately 25% of Florida's overall population. The Amount of Latino people who are voting in Florida are steadily increasing. They now make up 17% of the voting population in Florida. Since George Bush was reelected in 2004 majority of the voting Latino population in Florida has stopped voting Republican. Miami-Dade county is 66.7% Latino which gives them highest Latino population in Florida yet they had the lowest voting rate in the 2014 midterm Elections. So why aren’t all of the Latino’s voting? Young people of color (Latinos and Blacks) don’t vote as much as their White peers not only in Florida but in America all together. Some of the Latino population in Florida can’t vote because they don’t have their citizenship but that doesn’t account for all of the Latinos who don’t vote. One out of five Black people will not be able to vote in Florida due to a Felony conviction. Not to mention the Black people who won't vote because they feel their vote doesn't count which is something I’ve heard many people say in my community growing up. After being marginalized in America for so many years it’s easy for voters of color (mainly Blacks and Latinos) to lose interest in politics. However that it is an unhealthy trend that needs to change and is steadily changing in Florida.


With the 2016 presidential election coming up the Latino vote will be a crucial factor in the outcome of which presidential candidate wins Florida. The Republican Candidate Donald Trump will be going against the Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. But a recent online survey of Latino voters by Florida International University’s Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs and mobile Hispanic advertising company Adsmovil show that the Latino population is overwhelmingly against Trump. Perhaps it’s because he referred to the Mexican American Immigrant population as rapist, drug dealers, and other negative things. Maybe it's because he wants to spend 25 BILLION dollars on a wall that will separate the United States and Mexico. Maybe it’s because he flirts with women by “grabbing them by the pussy” (which I thought was considered sexual assault). Regardless the Latino population in Florida does not like Donald Trump and I think it’s safe to say the Black population in Florida does not like him either. However 20% of Florida's population is 65 or older and this is the most reliable voting group. Hopefully they aren’t stuck in their “traditional” ways in wanting America to be how it was when they were younger. If they are then Trump may be the perfect candidate for them.


http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article87250257.html
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/election/article95076927.html

LATINA/OS TAKE CENTER STAGE: CENSUS 2000

THE 2000 CENSUS AND LATINO ASSIMILATION IN THE U.S.

The 2000 census reveled a dramatic increase in the Latino population within seven of the ten largest cities in the United States. Two of them include New York and Los Angels.  The Latino population surpassed Blacks in New York and Blacks and non-Hispanic whites in Los Angeles. Now that the Latino population has become the minority-majority in these major cities, it is said that the Latino population will be 25 percent of the U.S. population by 2050. I think it’s safe to say that the migration of Latinos originates from pull factors from their home country. With this I will pose a question, how is the Puerto Rican migration to New York similar to the Mexican migration to Southern California? In this blog post I will argue that the pull factors in both Puerto Rico and Mexico were similar and with that these populations along with other Latino populations refuse to assimilate to mainstream U.S. culture.

The migration of Puerto Ricans in the early 20^th century was primarily due to economic issues on the island. Puerto Ricans saw New York City as the jackpot for employment as the unemployment rate rose to alarming levels. After the U.S. annexation of Utah, New Mexico, Texas, and California, Mexican citizens left these new U.S. areas and moved to Mexican territory. New mining and agriculture industries attracted Mexican migrant laborers. The Mexican revolution later increased the flow of migrants, many of which left rural areas to seek employment. Today, Los Angeles and New York are ranked metro areas with the largest Latino population between 2000 and 2010.

The change in the Latino population in the United States is not chiefly due to migration. Mexican and Puerto Rican migrants being in the United States for decades definitely calls for cultural diffusion. Mexican, Puerto Rican, and other Latino groups were concentrated in areas of the United States (Mexicans to Southern California and Puerto Ricans to New York City) and established barrios similar to the ones their homeland. According to Samuel P. Huntington, fertility rates are the highest among Latinos in the United States. Latinos start families in these areas for decades and therefore prevents the total assimilation to U.S. culture for generations.

Work Cited

1. Davis, Mike. 2001. Magical Urbanism: Latinos Reinvent the US Big City. Ch. 1

2. Steinhauer, Jason. 2015, March 11. The History of Mexican Immigration to the U.S. in the Early 20th Century [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://blogs.loc.gov/kluge/2015/03/the-history-of-mexican-immigration-to-the-u-s-in-the-early-20th-century/

3. Sanchez Korrol, Virginia E. 1994. From Colonia to Community: The History of Puerto Ricans in New York City. Ch. 2 [31]